Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener
The Constant Gardener
Author: John le Carre
Frightening, heartbreaking, and exquisitely calibrated, John le Carré's new novel opens with the gruesome murder of the young and beautiful Tessa Quayle near northern Kenya's Lake Turkana, the birthplace of mankind. Her putative African lover and traveling companion, a doctor with one of the aid agencies, has vanished from the scene of the ...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780743422918
ISBN-10: 0743422910
Publication Date: 11/1/2001
Pages: 576
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 50

3.8 stars, based on 50 ratings
Publisher: Pocket
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
It is hard not to see how real this story can be if an ordinary person is placed in this circumstance. I think often of my missionary friends who travel the globe and try not to allow the politics of the host country interfer with their mission to share God with the world. How this book reminds me of that struggle from the perspective of the one who decides to seek truth rather than turn a blind eye to it. Can we say we would be so bold?
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Loved the movie, but had trouble getting into the book.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on
Helpful Score: 2
John Le Carre manages to weave together a passionate love story, a chilling, suspenseful thriller, and a scathing commentary on the objectification of the African continent and its' people. The end result is one heck of a pager turner! I finished the book with tears in my eyes for both the beautiful, and ultimately tragic, love story and the sad commentary about our supposedly 'progressive' world.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 109 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
a wonderful complex book and movie!
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I really did not enjoy this book, although I do not tend to like Le Carre's writing style to begin with. This story in particular, though, I felt was full of a lot of suspense build up and build up and then when you find out what happens, you think "that's it? All that build up for this?" I also felt this was a unique attempt from Le Carre in delving into a more political theme (i.e. the corrupt pharmaceutical companies). To put my feelings for Le Carre aside, though, I asked others who are Le Carre fans and they said they did not care for this book either and prefer his spy novels.
Read All 49 Book Reviews of "The Constant Gardener"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed The Constant Gardener on
Very good, a bit confusing at first. Liked it even better after seeing the movie!
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 26 more book reviews
A powerful novel.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on
I really enjoyed this book. John le Carre is a master!
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 244 more book reviews
Much better than the movie...
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 517 more book reviews
intrigue and murder, good book
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 32 more book reviews
I don't think I will see the movie, I don't see how it could be as good as this book. I could imagine the way the characters sounded, smelled, looked. An excellent book from a really great writer.
queenofeverything avatar reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 33 more book reviews
I found the book a lot better and much more interesting than the movie. His wife was fascinating, flawed and I could see why he was so attached to her.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 53 more book reviews
Le Carre does it again.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 107 more book reviews
While nearly all of le Carre's books are excellent, this one stands head and shoulders above the pack. I had it on my paperback bookshelf at home for a long time and had seen the movie twice when I finally got around to reading it the last few months. I enjoyed it so much I acquired a new hardcover copy (through PaperbackSwap) for my personal collection.

Although there is an intelligence agent in this book it is so much more than a spy story or adventure story; like "The Perfect Spy" it can stand alone as a great novel. It speaks eloquently about human relationships, the British diplomatic corps, the pharmaceutical industry, and great power treatment of third world countries.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 2 more book reviews
After several hundred pages, I realized I didn't care what happened to the characters, or how the story ended. I stopped reading.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 18 more book reviews
All LeCarre books are very good.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 813 more book reviews
An aging, soon to be passed over, embassy bureaucrat evidently does more gardening than he does his young, brilliant wife. She traipses around Kenya with a do-good doctor attempting to nail to the wall a major pharmaceutical conglomerate that is systematically reducing the overpopulation with a new wonder drug. They get murdered and away we go. Hubby jumps on the trail to take all guilty parties to task. Good luck! Lets see, whos involved: a major international conglomerate pharmaceutical corporation, their monster African distributor, the corrupt Kenyan government, the do-nothing British Embassy in Kenya, their superior counterpart in merry old England, government political criminals, a myriad of corrupt aid agencies, local warlords, mercenaries, killers for hire. Had enough, or should I keep adding to the sewage. Typical Honest John. You may not appreciate the reality of the ending.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 50 more book reviews
I wanted to love this book, but I had a really hard time getting into it. Not sure why. I liked the movie and this has to be one of the very few times I liked the movie better than the book. The book feels dry and disconnected from the characters.
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 29 more book reviews
Simply brilliant. LeCarre at his best.
elusivemuse avatar reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 3 more book reviews
Wonderful story!
reviewed The Constant Gardener on + 4 more book reviews
Loved this book.


Genres: